From what started out as a family activity, David Nighbor’s cross country skiing career grew to a level few local skiers have attained. Commencing with his high school career, his status as an elite skier grew as he progressed through the ranks from Chippewa Secondary School to the Ontario Junior development team followed by selection to the Ontario Elite winter racing team. His accomplishments at those levels saw him advance to the Canadian Junior national team from 2001-2004 and ultimately from 2004-2009 as a member of the Canadian national ski team.
Over that period of time, David orchestrated an impressive resume that included:
- 4-time NDA, NOSSA and OFSAA ski champion – 1999-2002
- Canadian Junior national ski championships – 11 golds, 2 silver, 1 bronze
- North American Canada Cup – 8 golds, 3 silver
- 2007 – 5 consecutive NORAM victories leading to gold at the Canadian ski championships
- International stage – 2007 under 23 world championships – 18th
- World cup races – 32nd, 33rd, 37th
- 2007 Senior world championships – 51st
- 2008 – European cup – 2nd
- The penultimate accomplishment was being named as an alternate member of team Canada at the Torino Winter Olympics in 2006
In summary, during his career, David competed at the national level, he had top 10 finishes in 18 of the 26 events he competed in; a top 10 overall percentage of 69%. On the world cup stage, he competed in 11 events with a best finish of 29th.
At the OFSAA level, he had 14 – 1st place finishes and for good measure, he threw in a few NOSSA track and field top finishes as well.
David Nighbor’s accomplishments speak volumes to the unlimited opportunities a strong local club with solid coaching can provide to young athletes. To his credit David Nighbor developed a passion and commitment to the sport of cross-country skiing that took him to the pinnacle of this sport and made him an automatic inductee into the North Bay and Area Sports Hall of Fame.